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South Africa’s only F1 world champion, Jody Scheckter, has considered handing back his 1979 title.
Scheckter (59) told the BBC he is aghast at the current Machiavellian dynamics permeating the sport’s leadership.
"The politics that have crept into Formula One, and the way that things are handled now, is very, very disappointing," said Scheckter, who won 10 races and retired after failing to defend his title in 1980.
"There have been stages when I have thought 'I am going to give back my world championship' because I have felt so strongly about it.”
Considering the controversy surrounding FIA president Max Mosely's fascist background and his sado-masochistic sex scandal last year, the rescinding of an F1 world championship by the only driver of Jewish lineage to ever to win the title - Scheckter - would do untold damage to the already embattled image of the sport.
"Some of the regulations and some of the decisions that have been made by the FIA in the last years I think have been terrible. I think the sport's going through a dictatorship that is going wrong, as most dictatorships go wrong sooner or later."
Scheckter, who is today a highly successful organic farmer in Hampshire, west of London, was Ferrari’s last world champion before the Michael Schumacher era. He was renowned for his brusque driving style.
His son, Tomas, currently races in the North American Indy Racing League.
Scheckter (59) told the BBC he is aghast at the current Machiavellian dynamics permeating the sport’s leadership.
"The politics that have crept into Formula One, and the way that things are handled now, is very, very disappointing," said Scheckter, who won 10 races and retired after failing to defend his title in 1980.
"There have been stages when I have thought 'I am going to give back my world championship' because I have felt so strongly about it.”
Considering the controversy surrounding FIA president Max Mosely's fascist background and his sado-masochistic sex scandal last year, the rescinding of an F1 world championship by the only driver of Jewish lineage to ever to win the title - Scheckter - would do untold damage to the already embattled image of the sport.
"Some of the regulations and some of the decisions that have been made by the FIA in the last years I think have been terrible. I think the sport's going through a dictatorship that is going wrong, as most dictatorships go wrong sooner or later."
Scheckter, who is today a highly successful organic farmer in Hampshire, west of London, was Ferrari’s last world champion before the Michael Schumacher era. He was renowned for his brusque driving style.
His son, Tomas, currently races in the North American Indy Racing League.
